The USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee announced Thursday night that 14 finalists had been selected to continue competing for a USA roster spot.
And the Harrison twins — Andrew and Aaron — were not among them. The brothers, two of the elite players in the Class of 2013, were cut, along with Ryan Arcidiacono, Jabari Byrd, Robert Carter, Kris Dunn, Robert Upshaw, Troy Williams and Adam Woodbury.
The 14 finalists will continue to train through June 11 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The official 12-man 2012 USA Men’s U18 National Team will be selected prior to the team’s June 12 departure for the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, which will be played June 16-20 in Sao Sebastiáo do Paraiso, Brazil. Players eligible for this competition must have been born on or after Jan. 1, 1994.
Named as a USA Men’s U18 National Team finalist were: Nate Britt Jr. (Gonzaga H.S., D.C./Upper Marlboro, Md.); Sam Dekker (Sheboygan Lutheran H.S./Sheboygan, Wis.); Shaq Goodwin (Southwest DeKalb H.S./Decatur, Ga.); Jerami Grant (DeMatha Catholic/Bowie, Md.); Montrezl Harrell (Hargrave Military Academy/Tarboro, N.C.); Joel James (Dwyer H.S./West Palm Beach, Fla.); Jake Layman (King Phillip Regional H.S./Wrentham, Mass.); Austin Nichols (Briarcrest H.S./Eads, Tenn.); Rodney Purvis (Upper Room Christian/Raleigh, N.C.); Julius Randle (Prestonwood Christian Academy/ McKinney, Texas); James Robinson (DeMatha Catholic H.S./Mitchellville, Md.); Marcus Smart (Marcus H.S./Flower Mound, Texas); Jarnell Stokes (Memphis, Tenn.); and Rasheed Sulaimon (Strake Jesuit College Prep/Houston, Texas).
“This trials has been very difficult,” said USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee chair Jim Boeheim. “You had 23 guys who all are really good players, there wasn’t a bad player here. To get down to 12 is going to be difficult but I think we’re going to end up with a really good athletic team that is going to be very well coached. I think we’ve got an unbelievable coaching staff. I think we’ve got guys that have won, been winners, won state championships, and I think they’ll represent USA Basketball extremely well in this tournament.”
Photo: USA Basketball